Great news if you are in the advertising sector. Employment in the advertising, public relations, and related services industry in the United States reached an all-time high in October, according to the monthly employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The industry added 2,300 jobs last month, surpassing the previous employment peak set in 2000 during the dot-com bubble.
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In the classification of advertising, PR, and related services, U.S. employment reached 504,000 jobs in October based on seasonally adjusted figures, surpassing the previous peak of 503,700 jobs in October 2000. This record-breaking employment growth comes despite challenges the industry faced in recent months including cutbacks at media companies and ad-centric tech firms..
Agencies, representing the largest portion, approximately 47%, of the jobs in this classification, also saw an all-time high in staffing.
The industry experienced the year’s third-largest monthly increase in October, with the addition of 2,300 jobs. This follows a gain of 2,800 jobs in September and 2,400 jobs in June. The September figure was downwardly revised from the previously reported gain of 3,000 jobs, indicating continued employment growth in the industry.
U.S. ad agency employment also reached an all-time high in September, with 235,900 jobs, marking a gain of 1,900 jobs on a non-seasonally adjusted basis. The upward trend in employment followed a slight loss of 200 jobs in August, which was later revised from a preliminary loss of 300 jobs.
REELated:
The October figures for ad agency employment are not yet available, but the strong October employment growth in advertising, PR, and related services suggests a positive trend in advertising staffing.
However, the overall U.S. employment increase was slightly lower than economists had forecast, with a gain of 150,000 jobs in October. This is the second-weakest monthly job gain since 2021, indicating a potential cooling of the labor market. The unemployment rate, based on a separate household survey, inched up to 3.9% in October, the highest since early 2022. Despite this increase, the unemployment rate is relatively low in historical terms.
The advertising and PR industry’s employment record is particularly notable given the recent challenges faced by media companies and ad-centric tech firms, which saw cutbacks during the year. Despite these challenges, the industry experienced consistent employment growth throughout this year, with the exception of March.
The bottom line – advertising ain’t a bad place to be right now.
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